


Whose Flowers Are These?

by yeolinplatinum



Category: Persona 5
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angst, Canon Universe, Don’t overthink kids, F/M, Hanahaki Disease, Mental Health Issues, Mutual Pining, Not Actually Unrequited Love, RenAnn, ShuAnn, Sorry for the sadness, Unrequited Love, akirann
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-02-20
Updated: 2020-04-26
Packaged: 2021-02-19 02:26:44
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 8,456
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22803778
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/yeolinplatinum/pseuds/yeolinplatinum
Summary: Ann gets the Hanahaki disease and tries her utmost best to keep it subtle from her best friend.
Relationships: Amamiya Ren/Takamaki Ann, Kurusu Akira/Takamaki Ann, Persona 5 Protagonist/Takamaki Ann
Comments: 6
Kudos: 48





	1. she finds out about it

**Author's Note:**

> ...It was an angst idea at 1 am. Please forgive me.
> 
> ~Fukura

_"Do you like him?"_

_"Who are you talking about?"_

_"You know who I am talking about, Ann."_

_"No seriously, who is it?" Ann asked in pure confusion, cocking her head sideways at Makoto and Haru._

_The two looked at each other in silence. It went on for a few seconds before Makoto leaned forward with her elbows folded and a solemn expression that made Ann fidget nervously._

_"It's Akira, Ann. Do you like Akira?"_

_Feeling her body warm up upon hearing the name, she stilled but her hands holding the chocolate milkshake was shaking. "I-I don't. What got you thinking that?"_

_"You never stop mentioning him. If anything, he's all you ever talk about. And I mean it in a lovesick way," Makoto stated bluntly._

_"Wh-what?! I do talk about other things or about my day though!"_

_"Makoto is right, Ann-chan. Also, we aren't blind enough to see how happy or delighted you seem to be when you do talk about him," Haru reasoned firmly. That left Ann no room to counter because when the third years, mainly them, did point out something like this, they would never lie._

_Ann remained quiet at their confrontation. She still did not know if it was completely true but when she looked back, maybe she did talk a lot about him, especially to them._

_But weren't they best friends? It was normal to talk about your best friend to others, right?_

_Ann tried not to think too much about it._

**

"Ready to go home, sleepyhead?"

Ann Takamaki felt someone give her a harsh slap to the head that could've earned a loud reaction. She jerked awake and hastily looked up while rubbing her groggy eyes to see her best friend, Akira Kurusu, smiling cheekily down at her with his hands in his pockets.

"Urgh... How long was I out?" She asked coolly in order to cancel out the quick beating in her chest upon seeing his warm smile. _This reaction again.._

"Since English period. Ms Chouno was livid to see you sleeping but she couldn't do anything," Akira replied, sitting comfortably against the chair in front of Ann's desk. He watched her pack her pencil case and textbook into her school bag and stand up wobbly due to sleepiness.

"Why not?" Ann questioned curiously. Normally, Ms Chouno would either scream in the student's ear or slam the desk with her long ruler but it seemed none of that happened, judging by Akira's lack of description. The two then walked out of class together, already on their way home.

"'Cause she knows you are her best student."

Ann rolled her eyes. "Yeah but someone would have to remind her that to calm down or you know, distract her from suing me.”

Ann expected Akira to say a name who would purposely distract Ms Chouno by making a terrible English statement that would send her fuming for bad grammar and lecturing them. Mostly, it would be Mishima who would help her since Akira was always daydreaming and was not doing his job as a good friend. Though when she was met with silence, she turned to him in surprise, her heart speeding up by each second. It couldn't be. "Don't tell me, _you_ did it?"

Akira shrugged nonchalantly, swiftly avoiding her eye contact. "It was necessary. Plus I can’t help my best friend?”

She just grinned stupidly at him like an idiot, all giddy and butterflies in her stomach. Goddamnit. He could’ve just let Mishima done it so she wouldn’t feel this way.

 _Elusive as always._ Ann giggled to herself. But she didn't mind it. He had always been like that since the time he transferred to Shujin Academy and even after they became good friends.

It was his iconic character trait. He was cool in his own league and Ann wouldn't complain, much less do anything to change it.

"Oh, hold on I'm going to the washroom first. You go on ahead," Ann hurriedly informed him, suddenly feeling urgent. Akira nodded without much to ask and gracefully took her bag from her so that she could go run off.

"It's fine. I'll wait for you at the school gate," he flashed a kind smile.

The blonde blushed furiously with red colouring her cheeks. She mentally slapped herself for reacting over such a friendly and common gesture, and promptly left for the bathroom before he noticed the unusual redness on her face.

After some time, Ann heaved a relieved sigh as she finished washing her hands. Looking at herself in the mirror, she straightened her back and patted her blazer to get rid of any crumples. She then stared blankly, her thoughts going back to the previous moments with Akira and his kind actions that made her all gushy.

She slapped her cheeks hard countless times, feeling a little sting afterwards to wake herself up. _Pull it together, Ann! He's just a best friend. You don't love him romantically._

Upon thinking that, she visibly deflated, obviously upset and unsatisfied at that thought. "Or... do I actually love him?"

Ann thought it was normal until Makoto and Haru pointed it out to her. From then on, she had been eyeing her own reactions to the black-haired boy and only until today, when she realized she had been blushing and reacting a lot from his friendly actions.

At that point, was it really a friend she saw him as?

All of a sudden, something pricked at her throat. It stung like a thousand needles, making her double over the sink and holding her neck in desperation for relief. As each moment passed by, the unknown soft yet sharp content grew speedily in her throat as if wanting to choke and slice her throat into half. She felt her lungs contracting rapidly, not giving her a single chance to breathe properly. The pain showed no remorse in holding back. Hot tears formed at the corners of her eyes and streamed down her cheeks endlessly.

Ann could not help it but end up coughing up whatever was in her system. She shut her eyes in agony, helplessly vomiting out the contents. After what seemed like eternity, she finally caught her breath again. Her lungs and throat were clear, airy enough to take in oxygen. Beads of perspiration trailed down her skin and fell. Her back was sweaty and her jacket clung uncomfortably to her body like a second skin.

As she recovered, she looked down only to see the most disturbing yet confusing thing in her life and jumped.

"W-What is this!?" Ann cried out in panic after seeing small pastel pink flower petals that filled up the sink to the brim in front of her. Her eyes widened in sheer shock and fear of what was happening to her. Her body began to shiver uncontrollably. She clasped her hand over her mouth, backing away from the sink until her back hit the toilet door.

At the same time, she was straight up baffled. What was the meaning of this? Why was she coughing up petals? Where did the petals come from? Was she going to die? All these questions burned in her head like coal, wracking it hard for answers until she could not find any of sort.

Strangely enough, there weren't any blood that came with the petals, considering the fact that it came raw from inside her throat. Even so, that did not explain why she had this... weird thing coming out of her body. Science and biology opposed this possibility of producing flowers. _Unless..._

Her brain stopped working when a certain memory came to light. A conversation from a few days ago.

_"Have you guys heard of the Hanahaki disease?"_

_Haru and Ann faced Makoto with a puzzled look._

_"According to my sister, there have been many cases of people contracting the disease. Not a usual one, it seems. In fact, it involves people coughing up flowers due to unrequited love."_

_Ann almost choked on her milkshake. "That's crazy!" She exclaimed, disbelief written all over her face._

_"What are the symptoms of the disease, Mako-chan?"_

_The student council president leaned back against the booth, sighing. "There are none, I'm afraid. But we found that apparently it will happen when you start to become more aware of your feelings towards someone."_

_"What... do you mean?" Ann unconsciously gripped her milkshake cup tighter._

_"The disease is quite ambiguous. But most of the cases consisted of the one suffering from the disease to find out that they truly love the person romantically._

_"...And many died from it."_

_When Ann wanted to ask her how they died, Makoto already had to up and leave due to an urgent call from her sister back at home._

The blonde girl stood in a daze as she tried to collect herself from recalling that memory. Shakily taking a step forward, she proceeded to clear up the sink, trying her best to carry the petals in her arms and stuffing it in the toilet bin as much as she could.

**

"Hey," Ann greeted quietly, a weak smile on her lips. Akira pushed himself off from the pillar of the school gates and grinned becomingly that did not fail to make her heart race while he princely handed out her bag for her. Almost instantly after that response from him, Ann felt a thousand petals grow inside again and about to escape when she forced them back down harshly, making her choke and cough.

Briefly, she raised a fist to her mouth to block any petals from flowing when she felt them rising. The sharpness of the petal was hurting her.

"Ann, you alright?" Akira tried to place his hand on her back to help calm her. Her body reacted before she could control it where she slapped his hand away on instinct.

Akira stared at her with an expression of shock and hurt mixed together. His dark grey cat eyes gazed with pain and perplexity in it, but Ann just looked away in shame, unable to explain for herself.

As if she would allow her body show on the spot that she had romantic feelings for him. She wouldn't let that happen. They saw each other as friends and nothing more. They knew that better than anyone.

Plus, he had connections with many women and girls outside of school. They were probably way better than her. Especially that one girl from Yusuke's high school. Out of all the girls he was in contact with, other than Ann, that girl seemed to be the closest to him.

"Home," she murmured timidly as an indication to start moving. She didn't trust her mouth to open fully or the petals would come rushing out again. And Akira was the last person who needed to know about that.

The two silently walked back to the station, with Ann remaining mute throughout the journey and Akira ever so often eyeing her once in a while, his fists crumpling the insides of his pockets.


	2. she lives with the disease secretly

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ann gets help while Akira is unknowingly left in the dark.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It may have been a lil contradictory on the previous chapter since Hanahaki is meant to be a disease from unrequited love (and I kinda made Akira look like he’s got feels so you might think why there is a need for Hanahaki much less a story), but I’ve plans.
> 
> Since it has no true details on certain aspects, I’m going to tweak it a little bit based on the prev chapter.
> 
> Sorry for any confusion caused!
> 
> Side note to early readers: I did a small change to Makoto's dialogue about Hanahaki. Made it so that she didn't search it up but got info from Sae instead.
> 
> ~Fukura

It had only been several days gone and Ann couldn't take it.

The excruciating pain the flowers, despite being soft in feeling, inflicted were like sharpened knives to her throat. Trying to hide her pained expression was near impossible, especially when Akira was constantly around her.

Luckily, she managed to clear up the misunderstanding smoothly that brewed between them since that day. Knowing that not talking about it would lengthen each other's anxiety so she decided to talk to him about it as soon as possible.

"You didn't feel well?" Akira repeated her claim.

Ann bashfully twirled her hair, looking down in embarrassment. She wasn't good at acting but she needed to add something to make it more believable. "Yeah. I felt like vomiting and I didn't wanna get you all gross, you know?"

He suddenly leaned forward, a little bit too close for her liking. “Sure?”

Ann froze in her seat, stunned at the motion. A few centimetres and she’d melt because of how a little bit of movement meant that she would kiss him. “Y-yeah! And- ugh- ever heard personal space?!”

Akira sat back down and was quiet for the next few moments. Ann crossed her fingers, hoping he would buy it. As if the gods were on her side, he let out a hearty laugh while rubbing his neck. "I see. I thought you were mad at me or something."

Ann's sapphire orbs expanded in confusion. "Why would you think that?!"

He shrugged nonchalantly. "The way you acted wasn't usual."

 _Ah.._ "R-right,” she agreed under her breath. And that was it. Everything was back to normal, but it hadn't been normal for Ann from then onward. Bearing the pain was a lot more harder than she thought, almost similar to period cramps.

She was just _glad_ there weren't any blood involved.

Just as their conversation ended, both their phones pinged. A notification came, indicating that there was a message in the chat group.

"Seems like Haru suggested for a study sesh tomorrow," Ann murmured absently after reading, clicking her tongue as she was scrolling through the rapid messages that were mostly coming from Ryuji. "At Leblanc. You alright with it?"

Akira chuckled, gazing at her from under his long eyelashes with his cheek on his palm. "When have I not been alright with you guys studying at Leblanc?"

For some reason, the flowers decided to act up from that amused look he was giving her. It was literally just a while ago when she clarified her weird behaviour from days ago and she definitely couldn't risk another similar moment.

She thought of something almost instantaneously; hurriedly grabbed for her water bottle - that she finally decided to bring after her caretaker insisted for years - and consumed the water in a rush, choking herself in the process. She wheezed while hitting her chest to calm the liquid - and the petals - further down into her throat.

"Hey, take it easy. No one's going to steal your water," Akira reminded albeit jokingly but sat up straight in alarm.

"I-I know that!"

It couldn't go on like this. She had to quickly meet a doctor to deal with this properly, or she'd end up suffocating herself. Which, she had already planned in advance.

**

The next day, Ryuji had personally texted Ann, asking if she was coming over to their study session with the rest since she did not reply at the chat group. The girl immediately replied with no hesitation on her answer, and then shoved her phone into the pocket of her jacket.

She checked her left and right, making sure there was no sign of any of her friends walking past. It was nerve-wrecking, because a couple of turns and she'd be in sight of the others that were going to said cafe. She looked up at the signage in front of her, her grip tightening on her bag as she entered.

The door chimed happily, much to Ann's dismay. The doctor on the reception counter greeted the visitor without so much looking up from whatever she was doing, "welcome. What's your--"

She was cut off upon laying her eyes on the blonde girl. The student feigned a happy smile, raising a hand. "Hi, Doc!"

"Takamaki.” The doctor's eyes widened slightly. The girl seldom visited the clinic, much less got sick. "What brings you here?"

"I'm here for an examination," her cheery voice faltered upon stating her purpose. _Also known as, lying to my friends that I had a shoot._

"Then, please head into the exam room."

**

"It is confirmed that you have the Hanahaki disease," Tae concluded solemnly, reviewing a number of papers with a concerned frown. Ann's heart sank to the bottom of her chest, thoughts disorganized from the confirmation even though she experienced it first hand a day ago. "Throwing up flowers alone is already a huge sign that you have the illness. No other known diseases have this symptom."

Ann gulped nervously. "Can you tell me more about this disease?"

"Not much has been discovered as few experience this and it is tough to get any conclusions. But from what I can infer is that they aren't life-threatening at first. Though when you wait too long, it can truly be a deadly disease from all the choking when the petals become full flowers. Love is the core of human survival after all," the punkish doctor explained.

Then, she went on to look at the young girl in the eyes. "As it stems from love, I assume that it exploits the feeling of desire to be loved to kill its host in the end. That's how they die."

Ann was afraid because Tae could just be right. There was a reason why she was a renowned and respected doctor at the university hospital and in the medical community, after all. "Do you think there's a cure?"

Tae sighed exasperatedly, something she did when stuck in her research. "I believe it's going to be tough, dear. This is nothing like in the history of diseases. But I'll do my best to help you." She smiled warmly, which caused Ann to grin in relief as well.

"Thanks, doc.“

"Just asking. Does anyone else know about this?"

Ann silenced at the question. The older woman raised her eyebrows in suppressed astonishment. "Not even Kurusu-kun?"

"I... don't plan on letting him know."

"Are you certain about that?" Tae put down her clipboard that had Ann's examination papers pinned to it and spun her chair to fully face her. "He's your best friend. This is something serious, you know?"

The blonde lowered her gaze for a moment. She tried to think if this was the right thing to do for herself; to hide it from Akira, someone who she trusted wholeheartedly apart from Ryuji, Makoto and Haru. In fact, the person who she trusted and love the most. Perhaps, just maybe, she was considering to tell the rest but definitely not Akira.

Ann's knuckles whitened from holding her skirt, her fists shaking.

"I’m sure," she answered meekly. Tae gave her a hard stare, a sign to explain more about her decision. But the girl didn't catch it. Ann tried to liven up the mood by putting on a fake smile and a little too high pitch to her voice. "It's... it's just a disease! I can cope with it!”

The doctor kept quiet. She leaned forward, leaning her cheek against her fist with a soft look on her face. She saw how the high school student tried to be strong by downplaying the seriousness of the Hanahaki disease. Although there was a severe lack of information on the disease, she knew that this could kill and had killed people based on the several recent reports the police, general hospitals and even her own university had released.

There was no definite cure for this, but the people that managed to recover from it mostly let their object of affections know about their feelings. Or through the other way that always ended up with sad endings.

The option that Tae hoped Ann, the most compassionate girl she ever met, would never take. Especially when she wasn't the slightest aware.

”If that’s your decision, I don’t intend to change it," Tae gave a knowing smile. “For now, I’ll give you some meds and painkillers. You just need to come regularly so that I can monitor you. Is that okay with you?”

Ann nodded, lips in a thin line.

She thanked her for the help and was about to leave the clinic when Tae asked her again.

”It’s Kurusu-kun, isn’t it? The one you have feelings for.”

Ann’s grip tightened slightly on the doorknob. She glanced over her shoulder with a sad smile. “...Yeah.”

She could hear the doctor chuckle in amusement. ”I didn’t answer you properly just now, but so far there are two ways you can recover from this."

That made Ann turn her head fully with broadened eyes, extremely eager to know how to cure herself. Tae only smiled encouragingly. "One is to tell."

Her heart rate sped up at the thought of it. "How about the other?"

Tae shook her head stiffly. "I can't be sure about that one, sorry."

"It's fine. I'll be going now," Ann waved goodbye and the doctor returned the favour with a smile. After the bells chimed, she let her arm drop by her side. Tae heaved a deep sigh, ruffling her navy blue hair in distress.

"Do it fast, Takamaki-chan... They'll bloom into full flowers before you know it."

**

Standing at the street in front of the entrance, Ann looked down at her bag of medicine thoughtfully.

 _Tell him, huh... I really wonder if there's another way to go about this._ She sighed heavily and began to walk towards the main street. Ann fished out her phone to check that it was six in the evening already. She calculated that it wouldn’t be for another three hours before the group at Leblanc dispersed.

_Okay! I should leave while I can. Otherwise, I'll be dead meat--_

”Mona, stop trying to eat my ice cream!” A young, youthful voice that Ann was all too familiar with, suddenly came from in front of her. Ann jolted in sheer panic, instantly looking to the find the source.

"At least share some!"

Futaba Sakura’s body was facing her, her arm going in rounds trying to avoid Morgana’s attempts at trying to get a lick at her strawberry mixed with vanilla soft serve ice cream. Beside her stood someone she dreaded to see at the moment; a boy with messy hair she loved to appreciate. He was observing affectionately at the 15-year old and the cat’s banter with a grocery bag in hand and a smile plastered on his lips, free hand in his other pocket.

Ann gasped loudly, unable to control the volume as she swiftly hopped into a small alleyway lucky enough to fit her figure. She held onto the bag of meds for dear life, transferring all her feelings of fear to the tight grip. The loud take in of oxygen had caught Akira’s attention who looked in her direction in curiosity a millisecond after she hid.

“So, why didn’t Ann come today?” Futaba‘s question broke his focus on the gasp, finally shutting Morgana up by smearing some ice cream onto his nose and the cat trying his best to get a taste of it. Akira turned to her, now concentrated on answering.

Ann decided to stay still and quiet as best as she could while (unintentionally) eavesdropping intently on their conversation. Their voices increased in volume with each step, clearly heading back to Leblanc.

_I wonder... what he thinks of it._

”The thing is,” he began with a deep breath, “she doesn’t have shoots on weekends unless it’s for the summer or winter issues.”

_Oh God! That **is** true! How the hell did I forget THAT?!_

Ann couldn't help but give herself a facepalm.

”...Students aren't allowed to work on weekends in order to give priorities to studies and welfare, no matter the situation. That was her agency’s policy.”

Her eyes enlarged in genuine surprise. Her heart leaped a thousand beats. She’d never thought that Akira would remember such details from when she told him in a small conversation months ago. Even she had forgotten about it.

But all that hope was extinguished when she recalled that Akira was also a heavily attentive person. It was natural he remembered things.

_Of course I am not special. You’re such a fool._

"But I don't know if they had changed it recently. Either way she would've told me," his voice was small and timid.

"Akira..." Futaba called distantly. "As much as I don't wanna assume, do you think she, y'know, lied? I dunno, that's the feeling I'm getting."

There was no response. Ann continued to stare down the concrete wall that was in front of her nervously. Futaba never failed at being sharp. Suddenly, Akira stopped right in her peripheral vision, Futaba following suit as well just a few steps ahead. Her breath hitched. One turn of her head and she could be easily spotted by the orange-haired girl.

Ann side eyed him, now seeing his full figure just steps away from her. He sported his usual black blazer, cream shirt and denim jeans with classy leather shoes; still looking effortlessly stylish as ever.

He shook his head with a tiny grin. "I'm sure she isn't like that. I trust her."

If the bag was a living thing, it would've not survived Ann's deathly grip. Once their voices grow even less audible, Ann squatted down. She weakly took out her examination papers, scanning it intensely. Unable to take it, she broke down helplessly, sobbing her tears out, both hands loosely holding the papers.

They showed her lungs already having baby roots on it and the petals continuously appeared as numerous spots on it in the x-ray scan.

**

Akira checked his phone for nth time that evening, not entirely sure on what he was expecting from it. Even he himself, didn't know why he was doing that so often. It was becoming a distraction especially when mid-term exams were coming up. He needed to focus on his weaker subjects yet...

"Worried about Ann?" Makoto questioned out loud. She appeared beside him as she began to unpack the groceries for him. Akira shoved his phone into his back pocket, slightly embarrassed that the girl ended up helping since he was motionless the moment he was checking his phone.

The short-haired girl giggled. "Don't worry. I'm worried too. This is the first time she didn't come to a meeting that involves us."

He looked down at the cabbage skeptically. _Yeah, that must be it._ "That's true. She, like Ryuji, has always been active."

"Indeed. I wonder what happened at her agency to make her work today. It's also the first time this occurred," Makoto added pensively. Akira hummed in full agreement, somehow feeling a little bit hurt that he hadn't been informed anything.

Out of the blue, the bell sounded. All pairs of eyes averted to the intruder, the noise from Ryuji and Morgana's argument lowered, Haru looking up from her math book and Futaba's head snapping up in surprise. There shouldn’t be any customers since Sojiro was out for the day and they were occupying the café for private occasions.

Akira turned his head and had never been more happy yet startled to see this unexpected visit.

"Hey guys!" Ann waved animatedly at them. She was clad in her red varsity jacket, purple dress shirt, black leggings, red converse and her iconic round earrings. "Still up to study?"

"Ann-chan!"

"Ann?! And no! I'm so not up to study!"

"Ann!"

"Lady Ann!"

"Ann! Why did you come?" Makoto ran around the counter to reach the girl, eyes wide.

"Uhh... I still had time so I decided to stop by. Won't mind me right?" Ann laughed shyly.

"Not at all! Right, Akira?" Morgana, who was curling around her ankles happily, faced the boy in question.

When the cat called him, he broke out of his trance and quickly gathered himself before answering. "Yeah, we were... just about to cook dinner."

His blonde best friend smiled apologetically at him after everyone heeded her sudden arrival. "Sorry for not informing you earlier that I wasn't able to join you to study. Maybe I can help with the cooking, at least, as an apology?"

"Sure," Akira grinned with welcome. All the worries and assumptions he previously had thrown out of the window, all focused on the fact that she was here. Here.

As pained as Ann felt inside, she had to refrain from making others worry. She hated that the people she loved the most ended up being more concerned than she imagined, seeing by the way Makoto, Morgana and Haru ran up to her and Ryuji slamming his hands to the table. Akira also looked immensely relieved. So might as well act as if everything was alright.

It would be alright, she convinced herself.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you haven’t noticed, I wanted to make Akira’s behaviour in one that people can mistake for liking them. I believe he does have that nature especially in the game.
> 
> (but I don’t know if I achieved that in this chapter yet xd)
> 
> Thanks for reading and see you at next chapter!
> 
> ~Fukura


	3. she is suspicious

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> While Ann thought she was clear of suspicion from her best friend, she seemed to have forgotten about the student president.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the wait! I've been stuck at how to continue and uhhh I'm a lil eh with this chapter but I hope it's enough to make up for the loss of time ><
> 
> p.s: let me just insert broke art student yusuke because i can't see the group without him x)

The brunette sat at the counter quietly, watching the two best friends work on the dinner together. She observed the two's movements around each other carefully; seeing how Ann stiffened for a split second every time Akira touched her by accident, Akira being extra, _extra_ careful whenever helping Ann in cutting ingredients as if afraid to cause any accidents to her. She stifled a giggle when she saw Ann clumsily knock over a bottle of salt into the bowl of ingredients and panicking afterwards.

_Oh Ann._

However, Makoto noticed something out of the ordinary with her best friend. The quarter-American girl was drinking a lot more water than her usual, aggressively swallowing it every time she had close contact or accidentally touched Akira. Then, she would choke and cough all over again, causing the black-haired boy to worry some more.

The president did not want to be that person but it was something to take note of in case Ann was hiding something. She decided to put it aside for now.

_Of course drinking a lot of water helps reduce weight effectively, especially when she's also a model... but--_

"It has been a little rocky around her but I'm sure she will do fine," Haru broke her train of thought, also taking a seat beside Makoto and smiled in amusement seeing Akira and Ann fooling around.

The rest of the evening played out really well, with the usual Ryuji and Morgana banter, Futaba whining at Yusuke for stealing her chips bought from the trip to the store previously, Ann laying out the dishes for Akira as he washed up at the sink. Haru watched with amusement at the bar counter, a pleasant smile forming on her lips.

"All right, guys! Time to dive in!" Ann announced to the noisy group loudly. Everyone yelled even louder in pure excitement at the thought of dinner finally being served, all gathering fussily in the middle booth. Haru stood up, half-expecting Makoto to follow but the girl just continued to sit.

"Mako-chan? Aren't you hungry?" She questioned, turning fully to face her.

Makoto glanced towards Ann. She was laughing along with the group whatever silly jokes Ryuji was making up and thought, there was nothing to worry about for now. Maybe this was just one of those days where Ann was seriously needed for her work. Nothing to overthink about. It was just this one weekend.

She broke out into a reassured smile and stood up. "I'm coming."

**

The school bell signalling the end of the day had long rang, but Ann stood at the side of the doorway, watching Akira pack up to leave through the class window. She could feel other students' stares burning questionably at the back of her head but that was the least of her problems.

She must make sure he would leave school before she could.

 _Grr, why is he taking forever to pack up?_ Ann cursed mentally, palms sweating as she thought about how her appointment was scheduled right after school ended.

As much as running off the minute the bell rang sounded nice, it would bring suspicions to the black-haired male quick. So she decided to go to the bathroom some minutes before the end (urgently, she said to Ms Chouno pleadingly), and waited patiently inside the bathroom until she heard the students rush.

That seemed like a more natural start to day one of hiding the disease from him.

After finishing packing up, Akira took out his phone and was swiftly typing something. Soon, Ann felt a vibration in her pocket and she saw that it was a message from him.

'From: Akira

Are you okay?'

She quickly typed back, wanting this to be done and over with.

'From: Ann

You go on ahead first without me. I might take some time.'

Ann prayed that was enough to end the convo and surely, it barely was. He was exchanging some words with Morgana over his shoulder. Ann didn't want to hope but she might have seen a little of hesitation to whatever Morgana was telling him. After a groveling few seconds, he was finally heading for the backdoor. Ann hurriedly went to the front door and entered the classroom as soon as he stepped out, breathing proper when he was out of his sight.

"Well I certainly can't let Akira know about it," Ann scratched her head frustratingly as she murmured absently to herself. "If only I'm good at acting naturally without so much slipping on my words and tone. He'll be able to tell I'm hiding something."

"Arggh!" She suddenly voiced out her annoyance with how life turned out, and hurried over to her seat to pack her things. She decided to leave through the courtyard for good measure that he might have long left the school, but she did so without thinking back on how this might have backfired more than she had thought.

**

Makoto stretched her arms to the fullest, making sure all tension was gone from her muscles. She glanced towards the clock in the student council room, and noted that it was already the end of the day. Glad that she was able to finish her schoolwork on time, she packed up and left promptly, hoping to head home without much detour.

Just as she was heading down, she saw Akira turning round the corner alone, which was a very rare sight. Curiosity sparked in her immediately and she approached him before he could leave.

"Hi, Akira, you're heading home alone?"

He nodded briefly, but his attention was focused on her taking how his body fully faced her. Makoto laughed inwardly. A man of few words, indeed.

"Where's Ann? Isn't she always with you?" The short-haired questioned, genuinely a little concerned at her best friend's absence by his side, which had become a norm.

"She needed to go to the restroom. After the bell rang, she told me to go on ahead first," Akira explained while looking at her but his eyes were a little distant. Makoto nodded along his words attentively.

"I see. Thanks, I was just worried," Makoto smiled thankfully. "Well, goodbye."

Akira nodded again in acknowledgement and instantly walked away with only Morgana accompanying him this time, void of a certain girl's presence whom he was always used to. Makoto observed his back growing smaller and then disappearing behind the pillars of the stairs before folding her arms in contemplation.

Her eyebrows furrowed when a certain thought came to her mind but kept silent when she went her own way back home. She was not going to jump to conclusions, yet. There was nothing that pointed to that direction, yet, anyways. It was too soon.

Mishima stood at the doorway motionlessly, head thinking back to the blonde girl's muttering. Ann mentioned something about Akira, one whom everyone associated her with, usually. _The heck did she mean? What did she not want to let Akira know about?_

"Excuse me, Mishima-kun?" The familiar voice pulled the blue-haired back to reality. He looked up to see the student council president and he instantly bowed in respect, the other doing the same.

"Y-yes, Niijima-san?"

"Please, just call me Makoto. Can I ask you about something?"

**

"You seem to have rushed here, Ann-chan," Tae raised her eyebrows in amusement when she saw the female student doubling over. "Trying to hide from him?"

Ann panted heavily, taking in sharp breaths for a good few minutes. "Agh.. sigh, am I..-- that obvious?"

Tae smiled mischievously. "No, you just surround yourself with perceptive people."

Ann regained her energy soon as she stood straight. She put on a scowl, one that had Tae laughing. "You know, as someone who is hiding this from her friends, that isn't very reassuring."

She internally shivered at the thought of having this disease being found out by everyone, much less Akira. They all had better things to worry about. And there was just _no_ way she would confess to him. He was unreadable 99 per cent of the time and there was a slim chance he would accept her feelings. She had heard of him being the object of attractions of almost every girl he had contact with.

Herself, included. Well, in her defense, he was very charming with that cat-like yet gentleman allure in his actions towards anyone he meets. As a person, he was super attentive to his surroundings and to what others say, making him possibly one of the best listeners out there. And he always give the best advice to cheer them up whenever they face problems. No wonder so many girls were beginning to like him; like those anonymous love letters under his school desk, buns and chocolates on top of it with notes that said 'Enjoy your lunch! :3'.

Why, of all people, would he bother to choose his female best friend? _She barely did any of those too-- no. Not even once_ \--

She suddenly jerked forward, feeling the rise of the petals in her again. The sharpness of the flowers cut through the train of those particular thoughts mercilessly. This time, for some reason, it was a lot more painful than the other days, tears gathering rapidly at the corner of her eyes. Thank goodness she was at Tae's clinic, that made her comfortable enough to cough out all of the petals to the ground.

 _It hurts! It's so painful! I can't--!_

"Are you alright? Can you hear me? Can you breathe properly?" The doctor pushed her chair back instinctively, not caring if it fell or not. She immediately put her hand on Ann's back comfortingly. "What happened?"

It was grueling some seconds but to Ann, it felt like a whole year. When the petals stopped erupting, Ann slowly regained her breathing pace. She took in oxygen slowly, looking up distantly at Tae in the eyes. The punk doctor's heart throbbed a little too hard upon seeing the mess the girl was in. "...Come, drink some water and rest on the bed."

Ann did not miss a heartbeat to consume the bottle of water. She watched keenly at Tae picking up the soft pink petal and examining it like it was a rare gem.

"...He isn't here so what got you coughing up these petals?" Tae enquired. Ann figured she had already started the appointment so she answered obediently.

"I'm not sure. But..." When Ann thought back, she realized that she was thinking that Akira would not have accepted her feelings. Not being her significant other since he had better options to choose from. Heck she didn't even try making him bento or something whenever they ate together with Ryuji during lunch, now that she thought about it. "...I was thinking about how he can't really like me since he has.. others who are better at taking care of him."

She began to tell the doctor her thoughts. Tae was silent throughout the whole time she was speaking. Ann trusted the doctor wholeheartedly since she always took her work very seriously when necessary. "..That is all there is to it. Then these petals began appearing."

Ann's response then came to a stop as she fiddled with a petal absently. She trailed her eyes to the pool of small petals at the foot of Tae. She could see that there were more bigger-sized ones than smaller ones. She gulped and tried not to think of the worse.

At the end of the appointment, Tae only prescribed her some painkillers and cool fluids for the aftermath of coughing up the petals. Ann's throat burned a little after that episode so it was not much she could provide without more information. When Ann waved goodbye and walked back to the station, Tae's words lingered in her head.

_"It seems that your thought process speeds up the growing of the petal sizes and the frequency of the cough ups when it's related to the object of your affections. This is rather dangerous. In what way, I am still not clear though I have some theories on it."_

_"It's fine if it is just hypothetical. That's why I'm here, isn't it? To find out more about Hanahaki too."_

_"Well, one simple theory is that you are thinking a lot about him so your body is just telling you how much you adore him hence the growth of petals and frequency. They might even bloom into full flowers. The second one may seem a little scary and far-fetched at the moment but, you think he doesn't like you -- in other words, overthinking -- so your body is going fast into the.... other side. You know what I mean."_

Ann quivered at the last part. It hadn't even been long since she had this disease but if she messed up, she would die.

She aggressively shook her head. _No! I.. I will be okay. I just don't need to think that again... It is all just hypothetical, nothing is confirmed._ She tried to console herself.

_Isn't what I'm thinking about true, though?_

The lone student hugged her Shujin bag tight to her chest, not realizing her hands were shaking vigorously.

This disease was confusing her more than she expected.

**

Since that day, Ann tried her utmost best not to think much about Akira in that way that was a one-way ticket to death. Though with the disease, it basically forced her to think of all this stuff.

The following weeks weren't the best. Not like Ann expected much, anyways. She had always secretly been putting medicine in her food or swallowing a pill fast before Akira could catch her red-handed. It was a terrifying to do because she had to keep her guard up at all times which was mentally draining. At this point, Ann was a professional at maintaining her composure whenever the petals decided to act up. Sure, with the medicines, everything felt physically better. Emotionally? Not so much.

Akira was still receiving the lovely gifts from random students. It had been going on for a while now actually, way even before the disease infected her. So much for his delinquency. People were literally dragging his reputation to the depths of hell when he first transferred and now they were treating him like some kind of god, offering him all types of snacks. (Ann was jealous because some were limited edition sweets from the mall. But Akira would share them with her so it was cool.)

Ann visited Tae nearly every single day after school. The doc had specially put aside a private time slot for Ann in regards to the disease, and she was extremely grateful for that. Tae had also been collecting data quite well, but she did not reveal any further information to the high school girl. Ann opposed to it at first, but she then understood that nothing was confirmed yet so Tae herself also couldn't be certain about what to be cautious of.

Other than that, since Akira and Ann used to go home every day together, it was now a foreign feeling that they were rarely doing that anymore.

Akira, mind you, didn't actually know how to feel about it. In fact, he was also becoming more aware that Ann was acting strange. She was constantly out of it, staring off into space as if thinking about something deep enough for her to scream a ton decibels higher than usual whenever he appeared near her. Then, she would jerk a little, cover her mouth and drink some water. When he asked what was wrong, she would laugh and brush it off as if nothing happened.

Even at times when she spaced out, she would look as if about to vomit something out.

It didn't stop there. When Morgana telepathically helped him ask if she was going home together with Akira or even when Akira approached her, she would give excuses. Not that he minded, but it was too frequent and _weird_ to ignore.

"Sorry, I got to do something after school. Maybe next time!"

"I've got shoots today!"

"I need to stay back to ask Ms. Kawakami some questions!"

He sighed inwardly. This wasn't something to rack his brain over on if Ann didn't mention anything to him.

"Man, they must really, really like you. Especially this anonymous girl. It's the same handwriting as last month!" Ann pointed out excitedly as she read the most recent note. The two were in the classroom for lunch as per usual, with the blonde turning her whole chair to face him as they ate together. 

Akira chuckled, munching on his melon bun. He'd bring home some for Morgana to snack on these. Then something entered his mind and decided to play tease for a while. "Why? Jealous?"

Ann froze. Akira lifted an eyebrow in question, surprised but mostly interested by her reaction. Before he could add on, she seemed to have collected herself and she waved a hand in dismissal, slapping the note down on his desk.

"Not in a million years, silly!" she giggled, her reaction a little delayed. Akira remained quiet as he watched her next move.

And, there it was. The desperate movement drinking of water. That was when he decided to bring it up.

"Are you okay?"

Ann side-eyed him weirdly, her eyebrow raised as she wiped the wetness off her lips. "Y-yeah? What makes you say that?"

"Well, you have been drinking a ton lately..." he trailed off, thinking whether to include the after-school stunts she had been pulling. Ah, to heck with it. "...and you haven't been going home with me recently. So I was wondering about that."

Ann blinked to see if she was hearing correctly, then she sat up straight. The way he said it could've made girls wonder but she knew better. She brushed off invisible dust nervously, stumbling on her words a little bit when she answered. "Ohh, that. It's nothing big. I just have been real busy now that the summer's issue deadline coming up, y'know? Plus, I need to keep up with my grades so.. that's why I've also been asking Kawakami for help!"

Akira smiled at her positive attitude. "Well, if you say so... Are you heading home straight today?"

The female pretended to check her phone and sighed deeply. "I don't think so... Agency wants me today as well."

Ann glanced quickly to observe his reaction and he only nodded before resuming to eat. She breathed a relieved sigh internally, thanking the heavens for letting her pass this obstacle.

When the bell rang, she waved goodbye to him as he left. She took some time to wait before she prepared to leave too. Just as she was leaving the classroom, she was abruptly stopped by none other than a close friend. Someone she rarely saw in school.

"Hey, Ann. I want to talk to you about something. Can we go to the student council room?" Makoto tucked a strand of hair behind her ear with a kind smile but her piercing crimson eyes were clearly not giving her room to decline. Panic brewed in her heart, as she tightened her grip on her bag's strap. It had been a while since Makoto had approached her in a less friendly way.

"Y-yeah, sure! Let's go then.

Ann was the first to enter. Not going to lie, she had never felt so nervous and clammy alone with Makoto in the room. Usually the prez would ask unavoidable questions which made her current situation all the more worse.

Perhaps, she had forgotten about one of her closest friends.

"Take a seat. Why are you so tense?" Makoto slyly asked when she was settling down, closely observing. The blonde girl waved her hands around as if trying to deny that statement.

"O-Oh uh, I was just waiting for you to sit!" Ann took a deep breath and calmly slipped into the chair, leaning backwards and twirling her hair unconsciously. Her eyes lingered on the table as she anxiously waited for Makoto's cue.

"Ann?" The sudden softness in the president's tone caused the said girl to snap her head up to look at the other in the eye. Makoto had furrowed eyebrows and was leaning forward, fists balled lightly. "Is something going on with you?"

"What do you mean, Makoto? N-nothing's going on here..." Ann pulled at her hair a little, trying to get more hair to twirl around her finger. "What-"

"I noticed-" Ann's free hand instantly clenched into a fist,"...you haven't going home with Akira. It's probably not a big deal to you, but I've been curious as of lately. That's not all too.

"Nowadays you tend to do certain actions. Choke and then drink water, and that always happens whenever Akira is related to the topic. On that day you came to the study sesh after your shoot, you did similar actions too," Makoto explained worriedly. "Plus... you seemed to have hurried off in the courtyard the other day while I was asking Akira for you. So I've been observing you. "

Ann straightened, her habitual actions freezing. What caught her attention most was that Makoto was watching her since the beginning?

"Lucky enough, Mishima had some intel. I approached asking him about you as well, and he told me you didn't want to let Akira know something. He also said that you were also acting pretty strange at the end of Ms Chouno's class that time too..."

The blonde internally cursed at nothing. She remembered her mistake as clear as day where she let her thoughts slip and literally spoke her mind without being aware of who might have heard her. She might have also forgotten Mishima was her classmate _and_ a fellow acquaintance of Ann's friends; Akira and Makoto included.

"...Oh my freaking God," was all Ann answered to Makoto's claims. The brunette quietly let the girl absorb everything before she pressed on.

"What's wrong, Ann? What are you hiding?"

Ann kept silent, looking down at her lap as if it would give her an answer to this unavoidable question.

"I...I.."

The words were stuck in her throat, tears already pooling at the corners of her eyes. Makoto would be the first one to know about her situation. Heck, her own parents didn't even have knowledge of their daughter having this disease. (Ann felt no reason to tell them.) But this was her close friend. It wasn't even Akira. Yet, she could not bring herself to willingly tell her about it.

...she was the one who first told her about the disease.

After much thought and internal arguments, Ann then looked down guiltily. "I...”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you enjoyed this!!
> 
> Also, overthinking does a lot more mental damage to you than you think.
> 
> basically what i'm hinting at here is that when you overthink about some things your body will follow your mindset and think the same. There is also one more detail to this BUT that will come later xD
> 
> \+ i would also like to highlight that trying not to think of something is easier said than done and that it's not easy to open up to others about what you're suffering from. that's how i personally feel.


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